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ViewsWednesday, April 29, 2020A Death Sentence for MeatpackersMeat processing plants are high risk for spreading COVID-19 , and many are shutting down. Animals due for processing have nowhere to go, and they are being culled. Workers there aren’t treated a great deal better. I’ve interviewed one meatpacker who worked at a pork plant, years ago. He told me he...Read more

ViewsWednesday, April 08, 2020Wisconsin's Unconscionable ShamWisconsin might have just decided the November election for Trump at the expense of its own citizens’ lives. As of April 7, the state’s primary election day, there were 2,511 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the state, with the disease continuing to spread. Thanks to Wisconsin Republicans and the...Read more

ViewsSunday, April 05, 2020Efficiency vs. ResilienceMany years ago, bestselling author Michael Pollan explained there’s a trade-off between efficiency and resilience. For example, your grocery store probably did not have a warehouse full of toilet paper backstock sitting around somewhere when their customers bought out their entire supply. It would...Read more

ViewsThursday, March 26, 2020Stay in Your Home—And Stay AngrySocial distancing is hard, and it’s not fun. I don’t question that we are doing what is necessary. Until better testing, treatment, and prevention are available, it is. But quarantining us in our homes separates us at a time when we need connection. And you know what? It’s okay to feel angry about...Read more

ViewsThursday, February 20, 2020Trump Wants to Cancel Student Loan Forgiveness for Public ServantsBefore sharing my opinions about Trump’s recent proposal to cut student loan forgiveness , let me explain my own situation. In my 20s, I was fresh out of college with a business degree and worked in software for a few years. In my 30s, I went to graduate school for sociology. I’m single and I had...Read more

ViewsWednesday, January 15, 2020Why Do We Have School Lunch Debt at All?A Google search for “paying school lunch debt” reveals a long list of recent news stories about good Samaritans paying off the school lunch debt of children whose families cannot afford it. A Fredonia, New York man paid off $2,000 in school lunch debt in his area, helping 140 families. A Rigby,...Read more

ViewsThursday, December 05, 2019Is Marijuana a Gateway Drug?Like nearly all Americans of a certain age, I was told in school that tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana are gateway drugs—and that is why marijuana should remain illegal. First of all, even if you accept that these three substances are “gateways” to something worse, why is it that adults can use...Read more

ViewsThursday, November 21, 2019Explaining Trump’s Racism“Is Trump a racist?” I have two answers to that question. First, most white Americans misunderstand racism solely as intentional beliefs held by individual racists who hate people on the basis of race. For example, at times the media has focused on whether or not they could prove Trump had ever...Read more

ViewsWednesday, November 13, 2019The EPA’s War on Science ContinuesThe Trump EPA wants to introduce a new rule : Its scientists can only use studies that make all of their data public. The new proposal is crafted to sound like a win for transparency, which is supposed to be a good thing. In reality, the rule will significantly harm public health — and loosen the...Read more

ViewsWednesday, October 30, 2019We Need Publicly Owned UtilitiesRight now, thousands of Californians are fleeing raging wildfires, while millions sit in the dark. And for-profit utilities may be to blame. Pacific Gas & Electric—a private, for-profit utility in the state—has admitted that its equipment likely caused 10 wildfires this year alone . To avoid...Read more

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